Today an email from Google hit my inbox that we need to talk about.

They’ve conducted some research that shows that customers care far less about personalisation – AKA seeing their name in your emails –  than you might think.

What they actually want is content relevance.

So, let’s dive into this new data that challenges our ideas on marketing personalisation.

We’ll learn why Google is pushing that relevance now outperforms personalisation, how a fictional brand that Google used in it’s testing took 41% market share using relevant messaging, and some practical ways we can leverage these learnings into your marketing strategy.

For business owners and marketing teams, this new Google research is actually good news: It means that you don’t need sophisticated personalisation technology to win customers – instead what its’ saying is that all you need is to be more relevant than your competition.

Relevant to your customers problems, their pain points or their desires.

How is your content, messaging, or offer relevant to your customers when they see your message?

I’ve discussed the traditional marketing funnel on this blog before.

We know it’s nowhere near as linear as once thought. Instead, today’s customer journey resembles a chaotic web rather than a straight path and it’s what Google named the “Messy Middle.”

But add this new data on top and it adds a new layer that we need to consider!

The Personalisation Myth Busted

So lets’ start right back at marketing personalisation.

For years, we’ve poured resources into personalising every customer interaction. “Hello [First Name]” emails and birthday offers that quickly become standard practice.

But at the same time they are getting well too old now as well.

So this research that I’ve been analysing is from both Google and a research company called The Behavioural Architects – and it’s shown me some interesting aspects that we need to consider.

Here are the numbers that flip conventional marketing wisdom on its head:

Only 18% of consumers care about seeing their name on product recommendations

Just 21% find value in birthday emails from brands

27% in the research value product recommendations based on things they’ve previously viewed or purchased

And 35% appreciate notifications, communications or emails about sales with brands they care about

So essentially, those {first name} emails where we wish our customers a happy birthday is out – and segmenting your audience to send and communicate relevance to their pain, their frustration or desire is in.  

Why This Matters in the Messy Middle

This insight becomes even more powerful when we connect it to what we know about the Messy Middle.

For those who missed my earlier deep dive, the Messy Middle describes how customers move through their purchase journey in four key phases:

Trigger: The initial spark of interest or need recognition

Exploration: Gathering information, discovering options, and expanding possibilities

Evaluation: Comparing options, checking reviews, and narrowing choices

Purchase: Finally making a decision

Most customers don’t move linearly through these phases. Instead, they loop back and forth between exploration and evaluation multiple times before purchasing.

This is why relevance matters more than personalisation.

So as consumers bounce between exploration and evaluation, what helps them cut through the noise isn’t seeing their name. It’s seeing that a brand, business or product that genuinely solve their problems, or satisfies their desires at the right time.

The Business Impact of Relevance Over Personalisation

Let’s take another example that the data suggested, which also shows that relevance, and nailing that relevance, can also help businesses with a smaller market share.

According to the research, a completely fictional airline that Google called “Opal Air”, during testing, captured a 41% market share from established competitors by using relevant, timely, messaging based on customer interests and needs.

So before people took part in the experiment, they were asked a number of questions about who they we’re, specifically what they’re shopping for, their brand preferences and past interaction with different brands in the category of Air Travel.

They then used respondents’ personal answers to tailor messaging they saw in the advert simulation, which tested offers and messaging from their first-choice brand against offers from a the brand that the created called ‘Opal Air’.

They were able to help participants make the right choice for their unique needs based on the messaging provided in the test, which then meant that a quarter of respondents selected the imaginary ‘Opal Air’ brand over their original first-choice brand.

So this data tells us that we might not need the massive brand recognition of Air New Zealand or Qantas to win customers.

You just need to truely know your customers, know what they need and what’s important to them and then be more relevant than your competition in those areas to capture a piece of the market.

So here’s another example – you’re a local accountancy firm. 

Instead of focusing on email communications that celebrates a clients birthday or milestone – instead factor in information and communications that provide tax updates specific to the clients industry sector. Specific to what challenges that sector is facing or announcing new services or products to help them further.

When acquiring new customers – truely understand your postitioing and your offer and why your target market should choose you, instead of playing against the big brands and big budgets that can afford to reach a wider market. 

What are the differences that you can offer, and then how can you use first party data to delever this messaging to your perspective audience?

The New Rule: Be Helpful, Not Creepy

So the key here is first party data. But right here is where a lot of businesses become a bit uncomforatble with collecting data from their customers.

However, this research is telling us another critical insight about customer comfort with data.

53% of consumers are comfortable sharing personal data, if it would lead to a more tailored experience.

68% find over-personalised communications from unfamiliar companies intrusive.

So this data is pretty clear: customers want businesses to use their data to be helpful, not to fake intimacy. 

They’re willing to share information if it creates genuine value, but they’re uncomfortable when businesses try to act like friends.

For SMEs, this simplifies things. 

You don’t necessarily need to pretend to have a personal “best mate” relationship with every customer. You just need to be consistently helpful and relevant to the customers pain, problems or desires.

Practical Applications: Shifting from Personalisation to Relevance

So what are some ways that we can apply to this our everyday marketing strategies to refine what we do, and improve our communication flows:

1. Stop Obsessing Over Names, Start Solving Problems

Instead of crafting clever personalised greetings, focus on understanding what problems your customers are trying to solve.

Skip “Happy Birthday, Sarah!” emails and focus on the Sarah, you need to pay your provisional tax’ instead.

Use first party data to segment your audience and send timely, relevant communicatiomns and messaging.

2. Make Your Recommendations Truly Helpful

Use purchase history to recommend products or services that complement what customers have already bought or services that they’ve already used – and then use this data to continue to be truely helpful and offer more solutions and products that they need.

Then learn from what your customers react to, and then use the learnings to help power your ad campaigns and cold outreach.

3. Rethink Your Data Collection

Only collect information that helps you deliver better relevance and helpfulness in the future.

Instead of asking for birth dates for your birthday email, ask about preferences, interests, and problems customers want to solve.

For example, a boutique gym might want to learn about their fitness preferences, preferred workout times, style of fitness – so that when timely information is released or updated, you can send relevant communication to those people at the right time – for example, an new early morning cardio class can be sent to those that have only shown preference to cardio workouts with their best availability in the morning – instead of boring your entire audience with information that may not mater to them. 

So Where To From Here? 

We know that AI is changing how customers find and interact with businesses – which is what the original Messy Middle concept is telling us – however this research also confirms what I’ve been saying about the future of customer discovery. 

Focus on building more trust with better relevant communications. Demonstrate to your audience that you know exactly who they are, what problem they face and that you’re unique product can help solve it.

Collecting first-party data will continue to be the key to really being able to solve real customer problems at the moment they need solutions.

Because the concept of the Messy Middle isn’t disappearing. if anything, AI is making it more complex. But with this new data we now know that guiding customers through it isn’t about old personalisation tactics.

We’re past that now.

It’s about being genuinely helpful and relevant.

Take another look at your marketing. Are you focusing on shallow personalisation or creating truly relevant experiences? 

The data clearly shows which approach drives business results.